


Apocalypse Games Lie

by Alpha_Aurigae



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, I make fun of Jared, I'm Sorry, Jeremy is needy, Kinda, M/M, Off-screen death, The character order is the order everyone is introduced., Will add more tags and warnings as the fic goes on, and also strong, there's no zombies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2020-12-21 06:44:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21070610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alpha_Aurigae/pseuds/Alpha_Aurigae
Summary: The world has gone to absolute shit. The government was basically non-existent.Jeremy had escaped New Jersey had been living in the suburbs of Harrisburg for two years. So after years of being alone, he travels back to New Jersey to find his friends.It doesn't go the way he planned. But then, when has it ever?





	1. Chapter 1

The world had gone to shit about two and a half years ago. 

Jeremy had been alone for that time. He had some things from his old friends: Rich’s busted cell phone, a bag of Brooke’s hairpins (good for lock picking), Evan’s favorite book about trees, and his most precious item: one of Michael’s sweaters. But other than those, he had nothing from them. He didn’t even know where they were. Well, he did have an old pair of his headphones and someone’s abandoned iPod and charger, but he had no clue whose it was. He just knew they really liked Taylor Swift. He had the entire 1989 album memorized thanks to it.

He guessed that Jake and Rich would have stuck together, same with Connor and Evan. Zoe probably went on her own and god knows Jared was probably living in a lush store. The rest of the girls probably stuck together as well, so they wouldn’t be hard to track down. It would be Zoe who would be hard to find. Both of the Murphys actually. So that also included Evan. Connor would not let Evan get hurt.

Michael…Michael could be with anyone. 

And there was always the chance the Jeremy was wrong about who was with who. 

They all probably went towards New York. Jeremy had gone towards Philadelphia, not even considering his friends. He just felt the need to get out of New Jersey. It sucked not to have his friends there to help him, considering that everyone was grouping up with other people to claim territory. Luckily, not many of those groups came near the suburbs, so Jeremy just hopped houses. He raided each for food, electricity, and running water. He left it basically unusable for anyone else.

He was in the eighth house he raided. A nice and cozy one-story house. It kinda reminded him of his house back in New Jersey. Maybe that's why he liked it so much.

He tried for the eighth time that year to restart Rich’s phone using hair clips and a generator. Rich had a Samsung, so he couldn’t use the iPod’s charger. Damn Apple and their unique cords. It didn’t help that the phone was so beaten up that the back was starting to come off. Jeremy is pretty sure the phone was like that before the apocalypse. How Rich made the thing function was a secret only Rich knew. 

He tried to move the pins a bit. But from the looks of it, it didn’t help. It made a few small noises, but the screen remained black. Jeremy huffed and unplugged the generator. It had been running on fumes anyway. Stupid thing.

He gathered up everything he could from the house. He had called it home for about 3 months. But now that the electricity was almost gone, there was no reason to continue hanging out. He stole some clothes from the dressers around the house and took what was left of the food, which was mostly cans of soup and crackers and other canned goods. He stole some travel mugs from one of the drawers and filled up all of them with water. He gathered the food in one crate, water in another, and shoved the clothes in his backpack. The same backpack he used at school. It even still said ‘boyf’ on it. Right before he decided he had everything, he ran to the bathroom and grabbed a bar of deodorant.

He stacked the crates on top of one another and threw his backpack over his shoulder. He carefully maneuvered over to the door and grabbed his crowbar, which he also stole, that was leaning against the wall next to the door.

Walking up the beat-up Mazda that he stole from one of the Murphys neighbors, he opened the backdoor awkwardly and put the food and water crates down. He made sure to buckle them into the seat. He couldn’t risk losing food or water to the void beneath the seat. 

Moving to the front, he got into the driver’s side and put his backpack and crowbar in the passenger seat. He plugged in the iPod. As he started the car, a wash of cold air washed over him. A contrast to the spring weather outside. 

He started driving out of the neighborhood. Jeremy had only gotten his learners permit, but he knew the fundamentals of driving. Taylor Swift kept singing through the radio. He knew could easily switch it to one of the many radio stations that had been taken over by people who were trying to get society back on track. But when Jeremy went to one of their so-called ‘safe camps’, all that it was was disease-ridden, hunger-laden camps. He left nearly as soon as he got there. 

He kept his attention on the road and on the road signs as he left the suburbs. He had to make sure he was heading towards New York and not Connecticut. He had heard from people early in the apocalypse that Connecticut and Rhode Island had basically become hell holes. 

He really wished someone was here. Michael preferably, but at this point, he’d be fine with Jared. He’d happily listen to Connor talk about his favorite books or to gossip that Jenna overheard. Anything was better than this person-less silence and Taylor Swift. 

He really missed Michael. It sucked that all Jeremy had of his best friend was his ‘CREEPS’ sweater. That stupid sweater had so many terrible memories attached to it. But it was all he had. At least he had something. But god he wanted more. He wanted Michael. He wanted to hug him and cry into his shoulder. He wanted to fight right by his side. He wanted so many fucking things that it was making his head hurt.

He broke out of his thoughts when his eyes darted to the dashboard and saw the dreaded ‘low fuel’ light on. He clicked his tongue and sloppily pulled his car over to the side of the road. He got out and went to the trunk. Inside he had three gas containers. And to his misfortune, they were all empty. Sighing, he slammed the trunk and got back inside the car. He would have to go to a gas station. And with gas being limited- almost all the gas stations had become group territories. He’d have to fight them off to get gas.

Speeding down the interstate, he managed to catch a sign that pointed out the next gas station. A small little no-name town. Perfect target for groups. It had hotels and fast food joints and nearly three gas stations. Jeremy hated dealing with groups. A lot were very protective of their hard-won territory. 

Turning off the interstate, he immediately saw signs of this being marked territory. Shitty cardboard signs and graffiti were littered everywhere. Cars were parked haphazardly in the street, and garbage cans didn’t seem to exist. It was disgusting. 

Jeremy slowly drove into the closest gas station. Thankfully, it was devoid of any group members. That probably wouldn’t last long. He got out and turned his car off. He went through the whole startup thing, using one of the many credit cards he stole from houses to ‘pay’. He had gotten the car tank and two of the jugs filled when he heard the sound of oncoming people. He capped the last gasoline jug, which was nearly full and stashed it in his trunk. 

As he slammed the trunk, a group of rough-looking women and men appeared in front of his car. 

“Look what we have here, a scrawny trespasser.”

“I could use him as a toothpick.”

“He looks like a girl.”

“This will be fun.”

The tough but short looking girl at the front cleared her throat. As everyone went quiet, Jeremy tightened his grip on the crowbar. “Look, I mean no harm. I’m going to leave, like, right now.”

The girl chuckled and tapped her chin, “I don’t care. You’re trespassing. Didn’t you see the signs?”

“Most of them were water damaged.”

“Who cares? What’s important here is that you trespassed and stole our gas. And we’d kinda like our gas back. So hand it over, and we’ll let you go with only a black eye or two.”

They couldn’t see the crowbar. They didn’t know he had a weapon on him. Jeremy smiled, and in the sweetest voice he could muster, said: “No.”

She clucked her tongue, “you’re going to be difficult, eh?” She simply pointed forward towards Jeremy and her little band started to circle around the car. Jeremy let his face soften and grabbed his crowbar with two hands. He slowed his breathing and parted his feet wider.

With a whistle from the girl, they charged at him. Some even dared to climb over the car. They probably scratched the black paint with the studs on their boots. Good thing Jeremy was not planning on selling the car anytime soon. 

Jeremy swung the crowbar like a bat as they neared. The bent part hit a guy right in the side of the neck. The guy stumbled backward from the impact. He raised a hand to his neck and winced as he touched the cut the crowbar had left. Jeremy took the opportunity to raise the crowbar above his head. He brought it down right at the back of the dudes head. He swayed helplessly before landing straight on his face.

Someone grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him back. Jeremy slammed the crowbar back into the attacker’s stomach. They didn’t back off. Instead, they grabbed Jeremy’s arm pulled it down towards the ground. The attacker slammed their elbow down on the back of Jeremy’s neck. He managed to not fall on his face by stopping himself with his hands. 

Jeremy rolled onto his back and hooked his attacker’s leg with the crowbar and pulled back harshly, hitting another guy in the shin. The attacker fell straight on their back. The other guy tumbled back with his hand on his shin.

He pushed himself off the ground. As soon as he got his balance, someone else shouldered him. At least he still managed to stay upright. 

Turning on his heal, he came face to face with a very tall, burly guy. The guy grabbed the collar of Jeremy’s jacket and lifted him up off the ground. Jeremy struggled to get out of the guy's grip but to no avail. The guy was basically just a lead weight. So instead, Jeremy just lifted his feet and put them squarely on the guy's collarbones. The guy gave Jeremy a confused expression, just before Jeremy’s crowbar hit him square in the face. He swayed, his grip on Jeremy weakened. Jeremy pryed his fingers off of his collar and landed on the ground. 

Moving around the guy, he got to the driver’s side. He made sure to lock the door as he got in. The car roared to life, and Jeremy immediately slammed on the gas. The ‘ringleader’ of the group barely made it out of the way of the car. Jeremy could hear her protests and threats over Taylor Swift. 

Moving back onto the interstate, Jeremy let himself marvel in his own victory. They didn’t stand a chance. He had a heavy steel crowbar. He might have accidentally killed the first guy, but that didn’t matter now. No one could punish him now that there was no legal system.

Well, Evan would yell at him if he ever found out. And an Angry Evan™ is a scary Evan. Even Jake was scared of Angry Evan™. But Jeremy would have to find Evan first. 

Jeremy noticed something in the distance. A deer maybe? No, it was human-shaped? Another group? Fucking great. Just what he needed. Jeremy slammed on the brakes. It was just a small group of three people. One guy and two girls. They stood menacingly at the hood of his car. The only guy had a baseball bat, one of the girls had a lead pipe, and the other girl had a curling iron. He went to grab his crowbar, but then he realized. He knew these three.

He turned off the car and stepped out.

“Jeremy?” Jake said, removing the baseball bat from his shoulder.

“Jeremy!” Brooke yelped.

“You’ve looked better,” Chloe said.


	2. Chapter 2

“Guys, you have no idea how good it is to see you.”

“Dude, I thought you died!” Jake ran up and grabbed his shoulders, “Why did you leave us?! Evan nearly killed me!” Jake shuddered at the thought. Yep. He was still scared of Angry Evan™. 

“Dude, I don’t even know myself- wait, Evan? Do you know where he is?” Jeremy needed something. Literally, any information on anyone would be good. Maybe he was with them and just hung back in case a fight broke out.

Jake’s expression turned grim. He bit his lower lip, “No, he ran off one day and didn’t come back. I’m sorry.” 

Jeremy felt a pit in his stomach open up, “No, Evan is not that stupid. He wouldn’t just walk off alone. He knows he can’t fight.” 

Brooke stepped up to him and grabbed his hand, “He said he saw Connor the day before he left. He was going to go look for him. That was the only reason he gave us.” Brooke sighed, “He must’ve gotten killed. Or captured. Or some other horrible outcome.” 

Jeremy bit his lip and cursed under his breath. He pushed Jake and Brooke’s hand off of himself and wiped his face. His breathing was unsteady and the edges of his vision were going dark. He could feel someone’s hand on his back. He couldn’t tell whos. “Can you at least tell me that he was okay before he left?” He managed to ask. 

Jake put rubbed his hand on Jeremy’s upper arm, “He missed you a lot. You, Connor, and Zoe were his only motivations to stay alive. He was a huge help. And he tried to stay as positive as he could be.” 

“What about Heidi? Is she ok?”

Jake looked back at Chloe and Brooke, “You don’t want to know. Trust me, Jeremy.”

Jeremy could put the pieces together. He took a shaky breath, about to say something, but Jake beat him to it.

“Before you ask because I know you’ll ask, no. No, I haven’t seen Michael.” 

“That’s not what I was going to ask, but thank you. I was going to ask if you guys gave her a burial?” She deserved it. If anyone deserved it, it was her. 

“Evan demanded it,” Chloe said, “He was in absolute hysterics. He thought he lost you and then we found Heidi, and then he couldn’t find Connor.” She fiddled with the sleeve of her jacket. It was some random high school’s leatherman jacket. It fit pretty well on her. “He did give me this really dinky looking ring before he left.” She dug into her pocket and pulled out a small copper ring with a piece of some rock woven in.

Jeremy took it from her hand. He studied it, turning it over and over in his hands. It clicked, “Its a ring Connor gave him. I think he just didn’t want to lose it.”

Chloe took it back and put it back in her pocket, “Well then, we should keep it safe. If Evan is still alive, we can give it back. If he isn’t, well at least we have a memento.”

Jeremy sniffed and wiped his face again. 

Brooke suddenly let go of his arm, “Oh yeah! Jeremy! We found Michael’s phone! It’s dead though. We don’t have a cord for the stupid thing,” She pouted.

Jeremy perked up, Micheal’s phone was an iPhone. “I have an iPhone charger.”

“Wait really!? Thank you, Jeremy!” Brooke gave Jeremy a quick hug, “I’ll go grab it from our camp.” She ran off into a grove of trees.

Chloe sighed and rested her hand against the hood of the car, “So, where are you going? I mean, you have a car. And a nice one at that.” She squinted as she peeked into the car via the windshield.

“I was actually driving up to find you guys. I hated being all alone.” Jeremy gave a half-hearted smile. It was hard to be truly happy after you found out your step-brother was missing and your step-mom is dead. He tried his best to not look as sad and empty as he felt.

“Well, it’s nice to know you still care about us,” Jake smirked and lay his arm across Jeremy’s shoulder. Jeremy rolled his eyes and patted Jake’s hand.

“Oh yeah Jake, I have Rich’s phone. The stupid thing is dead beyond repair though.” 

Jake’s expression twisted and he slid his arm off of Jeremy’s shoulders. Confused, Jeremy reached out and put his hand on Jake’s arm, “Hey dude, you alright?”

“I don’t like thinking about Rich. It makes my head feel funny.”

Chloe cleared her throat, “What Jake means to say is that he misses his kinky bisexual boyfriend.”

Jake blushed but continued to look somewhat depressed. Jeremy thought he heard Jared say something deep in his mind. Apparently, the ghost of Jared’s bad sayings follows you everywhere.

Brooke emerged from the trees at just the right time, “I got the phone.” She walked up to Jeremy and handed him the phone. It was the same as always. Red and black case with a picture of the both of them taped to the back. Jeremy always loved that picture. Michael had his glasses on upside down and Jeremy had on a stupid pair of cheap sunglasses. Michael also had his hand on Jeremy’s waist. Jeremy smiled down at the picture. They were around 15-16 at the time. It felt like forever ago.

Jeremy got back into the car and plugged in the phone. The screen lit up, saying that is was charging. He gave himself a silent cheer.

Brooke peeked into the car. “Nice ride, Jeremy!”

“Thanks. I stole it from the Murphys neighbors.”

Jake joined Brooke, stand beside her, “Hell yeah, rich person car!”

Chloe joined the two of them, taking a look around the interior, “It is rather nice.”

The phone screen lit up in a blinding white. Jeremy quickly scooped it up. It took forever for it to start up. As soon as it did, Jeremy saw another picture of him and Michael. This one was taken about a week before everything went to shit. Jeremy knew Michael’s password by heart. It was the day Mountain Dew Red was canceled. 

Michael’s phone had over 50 unread text messages and calls from all different numbers. Jeremy ignored them and went to the contact book. He clicked through, almost all of them going to voicemail. 

He tried Evan’s number. It rang and rang, and then someone picked up.

“Michael?”

“Zoe!”

“Jeremy?!”

“Holy shit you’re alive! Oh my- Zoe holy shit-”

“What the fuck is going on,” He could hear Jared yell from the background.

“Is Jared with you?” Jake asked.

“Yes. And it’s the worst thing that’s happened to me,” She sighed. 

“I pity you.” Jeremy had to think for a second, “wait, why do you have Evan’s phone?”

“I found it.”

Jeremy did not want to know where she found it, “O...kay.”

“Where the hell did you go? All this shit went down and we couldn’t… we couldn’t find anyone.”

“You found me!” Jared yelled in the background of the call.”

“Yeah, and I wish I didn’t! Christine, please shut him up!” Zoe said, shouting away from the phone.

“But Jared isn’t hurting anyone!”

“He’s hurting my sanity!” Jeremy could hear Zoe’s sanity crumbling through the phone. Must be Jared’s secret power, crumbling people’s sanity. He seemed to do it to everyone.

“Um, ok. Well, I went to Pennsylvania. I was driving up to New York to see if I could find any of you. I found Jake, Chloe, and Brooke.”

“Well, I don’t know where any of the rest of them are, but we’re in Connecticut. So if you want to come find us, you’re going the wrong way.”

Jeremy could feel the pit in his stomach get even heavier. “Please tell me your joking.”

“No. We’re stuck in Connecticut.”

“Well fuck,” Chloe whispered.

Jeremy stuttered out random words before getting his thoughts together, “Ok. We’ll start driving that way. We’ll see if you can find you.”

“Jeremy, are you sure you want to risk your life just to come and get us?”

“I’m 100% ready to die trying to find you than dying alone.”

“Hmmmmmmmmaaaaaaa- Fine. If you get killed, you can’t blame me.”

“Of course.” Jeremy pressed the hang-up button. 

“So we’re just going to drive off to the United States hellhole for Jared?” Chloe said. She rolled her eyes, “No thanks. I want my sanity.”

“Zoe and Christine are there. We are not going to abandon them!” Jake said. He turned back to Jeremy, “If you want to go, I’m 100% behind you.” 

Jeremy smiled fondly at Jake, “If you two want to stay, I’m perfectly fine with that.” Jake circled the car and opened the passenger door. He threw Jeremy’s stuff to the back and plopped down next to Jeremy. 

Chloe pouted and gave Jeremy the nastiest glare she could muster, “Fine. But I demand to sleep in the car.”

Jeremy sighed, “Fine. You get the car at night. Now, get the fuck in the car.” 

Chloe slammed the driver door right in Jeremy’s face. He promptly flipped her off as she and Brooke got into the back. Chloe did it right back at him. 

“Jesus, you both are children.” Brooke held her head in her hands, “I’m so done. I’m going to date, Zoe. I’m about to do it.” Lesbian threat. She scare. Almost as bad as Angry Evan™.

Jeremy suddenly realized he could play Michael’s music instead of Taylor Swift.

“Hope you like Bob Marley!”

Chloe tried to strangle him through the headrest.

\---------------------

The labors of life dawned on Jeremy after driving for two hours straight. Two hours straight of fields and trees and the occasional deer gave him the secrets of life. He also finally realized two things: He was more bisexual than Evan and Zoe is the only person he knew that could warp reality.

He had given the iPod and his headphones to Chloe and Brooke so they could listen to Taylor Swift on repeat. Jeremy never wanted to hear a note of 1989 for the rest of his existence. If Taylor Swift was in heaven, he wanted to go to hell.

Michael’s music was calming. It never was before, it was more background noise during their car rides to school. But now, it was like an anchor. It weighed heavy on him, but it was grounding. Jeremy didn’t know any of the lyrics to the Bob Marley songs, but the few musical theater songs scattered around were ones that Jeremy had suggested he’d like. Wicked, Anastasia, Newsies, Rock of Ages, Fun Home and most prominently (for some reason), Once. Jeremy told Michael about each and every show. He never thought that Michael went out and bought the songs he suggested. It made the pit in Jeremy’s stomach feel less void-like. It made his heart feel warm.

Jake had been watching the skyline for a good two hours. He had Rich’s busted phone in his hands, his finger lazily brushing over the side. His head was leaned back and his eyes were glossy and unfocused. It was easy to see the dust and grime on his clothes. He hadn’t had the luxury of baths and fresh clothes that Jeremy had. Jeremy made a mental note to give all three of them new clothes. 

Jeremy turned the music down. Jake barely even noticed. “You alright Jake?” 

He lazily shook his head, “I really miss him.”

Jeremy clutched the wheel tighter. He took a sharp breath in, “I know how that feels.” 

The music suddenly was a lot more somber.

\---------------------

They took a break at a small town called Port Jervis. They all needed to get out of the car and stretch their legs. Jake took an hour-long nap. They got some clean clothes from an abandoned shop that Jeremy locked picked his way into. Brooke stole her clips back. By the time they left, it was 3:00 in the afternoon. It was now 5:00.

Chloe and Brooke were whispering to each other, their voices too hush for Jeremy to make out any words. Brooke was splayed on the back seat, her head resting on Chloe’s lap.

Jake had started singing along to some of the Def Leppard songs. Jeremy had no idea that Jake liked anything close to Michael’s music. He also sang along to a few of the Rock Of Ages songs.

Jeremy’s eyelids were growing heavy. The endless fields had started looking like vast desserts. In reality, they were just amber waves of grain. 

A state forest sign was moved to the middle of the road. It was graffitied like all hell. Group territory. And from what Jeremy had scarcely heard, Connecticut groups were very hostile and intense. 

Jeremy couldn’t backtrack, this was the only road that wasn’t stupidly destroyed. So, onward he went.

Only 5 minutes into the trek, Jake grabbed Jeremy’s shoulder, “Dude, look up…”

Jeremy leaned over and looked out Jake’s window. Up high in the trees were tree houses. Large and dark, blending into the trees with leaves. The only way you could see them was the fact that lanterns lit them up in a warm yellow light. Rope and wood bridges stretched to each and every house, connecting to a large hub in the center. How the hell this group managed to accomplish such a feat, Jeremy could only guess. Maybe God himself did it. Who the fuck knows.

Jeremy turned to look a back out the windshield and slammed on the break immediately. A teen, maybe a few years older, was standing on the road in front of the car. He had a kind smile on his face, but Jeremy had run out of trust for strangers. He gestured for Chloe to hand him his crowbar. She thrust it into his hands before grabbing her attack curling iron. 

Jake’s door flew open and he raised his bat, ready to hit the dude.

“Woah- ‘ey now. I’m not ‘ere to be aggressive.” The guy put his hands up in a surrendering gesture. That didn’t stop Jake, “names Zip-Bit. A group of scouts saw ya drive into the territory. We welcome anyone who drives along this road to stay for a night. We know this is the only road to go through.”

Jeremy got out of the car, leaving the crowbar in his seat. “You’re just offering to let us stay?”

Zip-Bit pointed at him, “I just said that sunny.”

Jeremy looked at Jake. He nodded back.

“Fine. We’ll take your offer,” Jake said, lowering his bat. 

Zip-Bit gave a small nod and gestured for them to follow him, then disappeared into the bushes. 

Jeremy poked his head into the car, “We’re stopping here for the night. Get out.”

Brooke yawned and Chloe groaned. They both reluctantly got out of the car, weapons in hand. 

They found Zip-Bit in the bushes, leaning against a tree with a stupid smirk on his face. Jeremy was ready to slap the dude. He was too sly for his own good. A goddamn fox.

He guided them to the middle of the group’s town, right under the hub. “Welcome to Sceptile Group! Before ya ask, yes, we are named after a Pokémon. I don’t like it either. Our leader just really likes Pokémon.” He moved through the crowd, guiding them to a well-made building on the ground. “Sorry if it feels like army barracks. Couldn’t just give houses away, now could we?” 

“No, I guess you couldn’t,” Jake said.

The house was very much like army barracks, as Zip-Bit said. Multiple bunk beds were pushed to both walls, each with thin sheets thrown down on top of each shitty bedding. Jeremy inwardly cringed at the thought of how those things might feel. 

“Alright. I’ll leave ya here. Don’t worry, no one will do anythang to yer nice car, I promise.” He saluted and left the building, closing the door behind him. 

Chloe groaned and flopped down onto one of the beds. Brooke sat next to her and rubbed her back. Jake took the time to stroll through the bunks, making his way to the window in the back. He leaned against the window sill. Nearly five seconds later, he shot up, “Jeremy! Get your ass over here!” 

Jeremy set down his crowbar and walked over to Jake. His eyes were frantic. He pointed outside the window. And he saw it. A red hoodie hanging on the bars of a makeshift cell. And right underneath it was…

“Michael?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my close friend for proofreading and putting in some of the funny bits.   
My tumblr is alpha-aurigae2


	3. Chapter 3

Jeremy nearly broke through the window. Jake had to wrestle Jeremy away. 

“Michael. Michael is here.” Jeremy couldn’t comprehend the words tumbling out of his mouth. His mind couldn’t focus on anything but the fact the Michael was alive and okay. In a cage, but not dead or beaten. He looked relaxed. Content with living in a cage like an animal. He started moving towards the door, “I have to go see him. Or we have to get him out of there or something.”

Jake grabbed him by the arm and pulled him backward, “Woah, Woah, Woah. Hold on now,” He crossed his arms across his chest, “Jeremy I know how you feel right now, but think for three fucking seconds.” Jeremy glared at Jake and mimicked his actions. Jake rolled his eyes, “That’s basically a jail cell. Which means its probably guarded. I personally do not want to start a fight.”

“I will happily beat up everyone in this group at this point. Do you know how hard it was to be all alone, not knowing what happened to him? What happened to anyone I knew?” Jeremy stepped forward towards Jake, glaring upwards to meet his eyes. “Do you know all the nightmares I had of any of you dying?”

“Weren’t you the one who left us behind?” Jake growled. Brooke was on her feet and watching intently.

“I was scared ok? I was at a grocery store with Zoe-”

“You were with Zoe-”

“That’s not the fucking point Jake! What matters is that people started throwing molotovs in the store! Things were on fire and I ran- I fucking ran cause what else was I supposed to do Jake!?” Jeremy threw his hands in the air, “I wasn’t thinking! I was working on pure instinct.”

“Jeremy, please calm down,” Brooke said. She put her hand on Jeremy’s shoulder and moved him away from Jake. Chloe got up as well and dragged Jake to the other side of the room. “I hate to admit it, but it would be hard to see Michael, and even harder to get him out. You can’t just walk up to the guards and say ‘hey can I talk to one of your prisoners’. It doesn’t work like that.”

Jeremy grumbled and contracted into himself.

“Stop acting like a child. Look, maybe we can ask Zip-Bit what we could do. How does that sound?”

“One, stop treating me like a child,” his voice chose a bad time to crack. Brooke couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across her face and biting her lip to stop herself from laughing, “shut up. And two, I’m fine with that.”

“Well, I’m glad you are thinking rationally Mr. I-am-a-man.”

“Stop it.”

Brooke shook her head. As he walked past her, she patted his back reassuringly before following behind him. 

Zip-Bit wasn’t hard to find. The neon yellow bandana tied around his neck was a dead give away, and so was his steampunk like goggles that were resting on top of his black hair. He was leaning against a tree, a bottle of water in one hand and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Jeremy couldn’t tell if Zip-Bit had noticed them or not. He was just kinda staring at the ground. 

Brooke gave a small wave and he tore his gaze away from the leaf-covered ground. He dropped the cigarette and snuffed it out with the heel of his boot. “Ya guys need somethang?” 

“Um- yeah, kinda. See, we saw from our window your little jail area. And we actually saw one of our old friends locked up in one of the cells,” Brooke said. She was gesturing so much with her hands that both Jeremy and Zip-Bit had a hard time maintaining eye contact. 

“Did ya now? Which one are ya talking about? The one who likes old music, the one that’s constantly high, or the horny one?” Zip-Bit said

Jeremy stepped forward before Brooke could say anything, “The one who likes old music.”

“Michael ‘ey? Say, how ya know ‘im?” Zip-Bit straightened himself off the tree.

“He’s Jeremy’s best friend,” She pointed at Jeremy, “By the way, this is Jeremy. We forgot to introduce ourselves.”

Zip-Bit looked over Jeremy before smiling fondly, “Ah. Yer the one that Michael loved ramblin’ about.”

Jeremy stalled, “What do you mean?”

“My group of scouts and I found Michael wonderin’ through are forest unaware it was group territory. ‘E was starvin’ so we took pity on ‘im and started givin’ ‘im food. We got caught, sadly. I got off scot-free t’ank the lord. The rest of my group weren’t so lucky,” his smile faded and he took a shaking breath in, “Back to what I was sayin’, he constantly went on and on about how he was tryin’ to find his best friend. He was talkin’ ‘bout ya Jeremy.”

Jeremy’s mind just about shut down. Brooke waved a hand in front of his face to get him to refocus. “Sorry about him. He’s still in shock.”

Zip-Bit waved his hand, “It’s fine. I understand.” He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. He was rocking back and forth on his heels and chewing on his lip. His eyes had a far off look to them. When Jeremy first saw him, they were the color of oak, bright and lively. Now, they were as dark as the rotting leaves on the ground. He took a shuddering breath before looking Jeremy straight in the eyes, “Tell ya what, I’ll ‘elp ya get ‘im out. ‘Ow does that sound?”

Jeremy could feel his lips twitch up in a smile. “Yeah. Yes, please. Thank you.” Jeremy reached out his hand. Zip-Bit shook it. 

“Meet ya’ in the barracks. I need to grab somethin’ from my ‘ouse.” He saluted and turned around on his heel.  
“Wait-”

Zip-Bit stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder, “Yeah?”

“The prisoner whos always high, their name wouldn’t happen to be Connor Murphy would it?” Jeremy asked.

Zip-Bit shook his head, “Never ‘eard of ‘im. Sorry.” He continued over to a group of treehouses. Jeremy had to ask. Just to make sure.

Returning back to the barracks, Jake was sitting on one of the beds, his fingers steepled. Chloe was right across from him, her handing resting on his knee. At the sound of the door opening, Jake turned to look at him. His eyes were red and tear streaks were still evident on his face. In a breathy voice, he said, “I’m sorry.”

Jeremy shook his head, “I should be sorry. I yelled at you. I brought up…” Jeremy gestured with his hands to represent Rich. “I just- I’m just really happy to see Michael.”

Chloe stood up, “I can imagine. You two are inseparable. Actually, I should say you were. Cause you know, you-”

“I get it, Chloe. Trust me, I know.” He drummed his fingers on his upper arm. “It really sucked without him. Without anyone really, but especially him. I think you know how it feels, Jake.”

Jake cocked his head, “What do you mean?”

“You know. The feeling of not having someone you love around for a long time.”

The air went still. Jake nearly hit his head with how fast he shot up off the bed. Brooke had a shocked look on her face and Chloe had the faintest hint of a smile. Jeremy realized what he said and slapped a hand over his mouth. Brooke’s expression turned into a happier expression. Jake smiled and nearly tackled him trying to give Jeremy a hug. Brooke quickly joined. Chloe just put her hand on his back.

“I thought you were straight. Huh. Turns out I’m wrong,” Chloe said.

“So are you?” Jake asked.

“I mean yeah. I thought it was obvious,” Jeremy asked.

“I mean kinda. But we were never certain.” Brooke said.

Jeremy couldn’t breathe. Jake was hugging him so hard that he couldn’t breathe. It hurt like hell, but at least he meant well. Jeremy tried desperately to get Jake to not crush his ribs.

Brooke suddenly let go, “Oh! To get back on topic, Zip-Bit is helping us.”

Jake finally let go and Jeremy finally was able to breathe again. He probably would’ve fallen on his face if it wasn’t for Chloe keeping him up. “He’s helping us?”

“Yeah! I don’t know why, but he wanted to help,” Brooke went on, “He said he’ll meet us here.”

That was the moment Zip-Bit promptly slammed open the door. He had a few knives strapped to his belt along with a gun. A small gun, but still a gun. He walked in and stood right next to Brooke. “Alright, are ya guys ready?”

Jeremy put his hand up, “Can we grab out weapons?”

Zip-Bit rolled his eyes, “Yes. Please grab yer weapons.”

After hurriedly grabbing their weapons, they went back to Zip-Bit. He took one look at Chloe’s curling iron and gave it a sour look. “Yer not usin’ that thang are ya?”

“It works perfectly fine, thank you very much,” Chloe spit back.

Zip-Bit rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath before pulling a knife from his belt, “Use this. For the love of God, use this.” It wasn’t a kitchen knife. It was a real hunting knife. The blade was black and the handle was black and red. Chloe looked at it for a minute before dropping her curling iron and snatching up the knife.

Jake whispered to Jeremy, “Now Chloe is the second deadliest.”

Zip-Bit sighed, “Alright, here’s the plan.”

\---------------------

Jeremy and Chloe stood on either side of Zip-Bit. Chloe clipped the knife to the pocket of her jacket and Jeremy kept the crowbar low and next to his leg at all times. Jake and Brooke followed behind. As they made their way to a makeshift tunnel of leaves, the two of them stopped following and stood at the entrance of the tunnel. The tunnel was lit up by firefly lanterns on the ground. 

Standing in front of a veil of leaves as a guard. He had a hatchet resting on his shoulder and was generally very intimidating. He was about as tall as Zip-Bit, but more muscular and with a fuzzy beard. 

Zip-Bit seemed unfazed. He strolled up to the dude with a playful smirk on his face, “Ey, Casper, ‘ow’s it goin’? ‘Ow’s Rose, ‘ey? ‘Eard she broke ‘er arm in the last huntin’ mission.” 

“Still haven’t fixed that accent of yours, have you Zippy?” Casper said, smiling a ruffling Zip-Bit’s already messy hair. Casper’s voice was even terrifying. Deep and throaty. 

Zip-Bit laughed, “Well, its ‘ard to shake off my ol’ country accent buddy. Been speakin’ like this since I was a wee little shit.”

“You still are one.”

“Oh come on now! That’s just rude.” Zip-Bit side-eyed Jeremy and gave him a thumbs up. The sign for ‘go ahead, this idiot is distracted insulting my past, please do what you’re going to do so we can leave.’

Jeremy gave a small nod. Chloe gave him one last smile before he ducked through the veil.

The prison area was open, other than the trees overhead. The prisoners had no protection from the elements. It wasn’t even lit up with lanterns, so when night came, it would just be pitch black. The cages were wood. Well constructed, but still wood. 

There were actually more than three prisoners. There was about thirty, in actuality. Each one curled up in one corner of their cage. Some looked at him as he entered, but just as quickly turned their heads away. Jeremy looked around at the area. Trying to find Michael’s hoody as a waypoint. 

As soon as he saw it, he ran as he could in that direction. He nearly tripped when he got close. He got to the door of the cage. Michael apparently hadn’t heard Jeremy nearly face planting into the ground. Instead, he had his head resting on one of the bars of the cage, his eyes closed. Jeremy was smiling so wide he was surprised his face hadn’t started hurting. Speaking just loud enough for Michael hear, he said: “Hey, Player 1?”

Michael opened his eyes and turned to look at Jeremy, “Jer-Jeremy?”

“Michael…”

Michael got up and ran up to the door, “Oh my god you’re here! Why are you here? Oh, who cares! You’re here.” Michael reached his hand through the bars. Jeremy grabbed it. He wanted so badly to just hug Michael. “You’re here. Oh my god, Jeremy, you have no idea how much I missed you.”

“God, I missed you too.” Michael’s smile was one of the best things Jeremy had seen in the last two years. And he found a working refrigerator filled with stuff to make sandwiches. Jeremy leaned his head on the bars. Michael mimicked him, moving closer to the bars and moving his hand to rest on Jeremy’s shoulder. “I could totally kiss you right now.”

Jeremy nearly passed out with how much blood rushed to his face, “Honestly, I’d be fine with that.”

Jeremy had to lean down a bit to get to Michael’s height. Damn his tall genes. Is this how Connor feels? He was so close to getting to kiss Michael. Only then did they both remember the bars. “M-maybe I should get you out first...?”

Michael, whose face was also red, chuckled, “Okay, yeah. Maybe that’d be a good idea.” 

Jeremy smiled back and pulled out two of Brooke’s hair clips. His hands were shaking like all hell, which was not helping things at all, but soon the lock clipped open and the chain holding the door closed dropped to the floor with a soft clink. Jeremy knew that he nearly broke the door with how hard he threw it open. 

Michael stepped out of the cage, and almost immediately, latched onto Jeremy like he was the only thing keeping him alive. It wasn’t like Jake’s rib crushing hug (his sides still hurt), it was, in its own way, gentle. Jeremy returned the hug, clinging to Michael with the same ferocity. His head was buried in Michael’s hair. All his mind was screaming was ‘he’s here and he’s alive’ on repeat. 

Michael moved out of Jeremy’s arms for just a moment before moving to kiss him instead. And without those pesky bars in the way, he could actually do it. He moved his hands onto Jeremy’s face and pulled him down. Jeremy put his hands on Michael’s waist. It was quick but damn if it wasn’t the best thing that’d happen to either of them in the last couple of years.

Jeremy pulled back and straightened himself, “As much as I want to keep kissing you, we should get out of here.”

Michael smiled, “Yeah, that makes sense. Can I at least grab my hoodie?”

“Fine. But be quick.”

“Only for you.” 

Once Michael got his precious red hoodie, Jeremy led him to the entrance. He stuck his head out and caught Chloe’s eyes. She winked at him. Both of them slipped through the leaf veil and walked up to her. She glanced down at their hands quickly and gave them a thumbs up. Zip-Bit was still distracting Casper. He seemed to be talking about his childhood on a farm. 

When the three of them tried to slip away, Casper managed to see them. “Hey! What are you-”

Zip-Bit managed to grab the pistol on his belt and slam the butt of the gun on Casper’s head. He fell to the ground. Zip-Bit pointed to the exit “Get movin’ ya bunch of idiots!”

Jeremy happily obliged. He honestly was done with this place. It was nice- but he’d rather not get locked up for helping his best friend-now boyfriend maybe- escape. They met up with Jake and Brooke at the entrance, Zip-Bit yelling at them to move as well. 

The group must’ve known what Michael looked like since as soon as they caught a look at them, most of them started yelling about an escaping prisoner. They quickly started surrounding them. Some with weapons and others without. They didn’t seem too happy to have an escaping prisoner.

That anger quickly turned to fear as Zip-Bit raised his pistol at part of the crowd, “Get the fuck back!” He started yelling at people, who in return, stepped away from him. If someone tried to step closer, Zip-Bit would point the pistol right at them. 

A man stepped out from the back of the crowd. He took slow steps towards Zip-Bit, even when Zip-Bit threatened him with the gun. He said in a pleading voice, “Zip-Bit, please put the gun down. You are a good man, you wouldn’t want to disobey the people who took you in again, would you?”

Zip-Bit shook his head, “I’m not lettin’ you sweet talk me to do what ya want this time Logan!”

“What did these people do to you Zip-Bit?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

Logan acted offended, “Such language from one of our own youths!” 

Zip-Bit’s grip tightened on the gun, “Leave them alone.”

Logan’s expression tightened, “Suit yourself.” He snapped his fingers and almost immediately people started closing in, even though Zip-Bit was still armed.

Jake got in the first hit, slamming his baseball bat down on someone’s head. Brooke and Chloe stood back to back, Brooke constantly having her lead pipe ready to hit someone. Chloe seemed to still be getting used to the hunting knife. She had no idea how to hold it and wasn’t really even stabbing with it, but at least she was trying.

Jeremy started hitting people across the head with his crowbar. Some even started bleeding with how hard he was hitting them with it. Michael was able to get a knife from Zip-Bit. A blue and black butterfly knife. He seemed to actually know how to use it, unlike Chloe. It was nice knowing Michael was right there, fighting by his side. 

Zip-Bit never actually shot the gun. He dropped it pretty quickly and switched to a knife. When someone grabbed it and pointed it at Jake, they found that it was devoid of any bullets. Jake promptly hit them with his bat.

Jeremy hit another person down and was able to see the road and his car. Zip-Bit seemed to notice too and called for the other three to get closer. As soon as all of them were grouped together, he stepped in front of them, using his own body as a shield, “Go! Get away from ‘ere!”

Surprising everybody, Michael spoke up, “Wha- No Zip-Bit come on. You can come with us.” 

“Riley. Real names Riley. And no-” He swung his knife and slashed someone’s hand to get them to move back, “-Please give me this and leave. It’ll be great knowing you are alive.”

Michael looked so hurt at Riley’s words, “Riley-”

“Go, Michael! I can live happy knowing you are alive and happy with Jeremy! Now go!”

Michael bit his lip, “Thank you, Riley, you were one of the best people I met out here.”

Riley had a very visible blush at Michael’s compliment. He also looked ready to cry. He grabbed his goggles and threw them to Jeremy. Jeremy understood what he wanted and nodded back at Riley. He turned on his heel and ran towards the car, hearing Riley yelling and the sound of fighting as they made it to the car.

\---------------------

Jake made Jeremy sit in the back with Michael. Jeremy was perfectly fine with that. Michael was leaning against him, fingers intertwined between them. He held Riley’s goggles in his other hand. They found his name written on the strap: ‘Riley Zipperson’. Weird surname, but it explained his nickname. 

Jake had looked back at them through the rear-view mirror, “You alright Michael?”

“Physically, yes. Emotionally, fuck no.”

Jeremy ran his thumb on the side of Michael’s hand, “Riley told us how you two met.”

Michael smiled, “Yeah. He was very nice.” He looked down at the goggles, “I hope he’s ok. I hope we can see him again. One day.”

“Yeah.”

Chloe grabbed Michael’s phone and dialed Zoe’s number. After two rings, she picked up, “Yo, what is it?”

“Zoe?”

“Michael? Did you guys find Michael?”

“Yeah, they did.”

“That’s great! Um… weird question, but have any of you seen any trace of Connor? We couldn’t find him when… you know…”

Michael gripped Jeremy’s hand tighter suddenly, “About Connor, Zoe, I-I think I was the last person of us to see him alive.” Everyone’s eyes were suddenly on Michael.

“Wh-What do you mean Michael?”

“We were at that park Evan really liked, and then these people came and Connor bought time for me to leave… I didn’t see him when I went to see if he was still there after an hour. Zoe, I think Connor was taken by the people who toppled the government.”

\---------------------

Everything hurt, but by now, Zach had been used to it. Being the champion of the Ares Temple Group meant pain every single day. The iron bar door slammed shut behind her as she fell on top of her actually comfortable mattress. Most people in the Ares Temple Group got shitty thin mattresses. She got a plushy soft one, simply because she was the best at beating up people who went up against her willingly or killing prisoners. She hated it. And it sucked cause after the American government blew up in everyone’s faces, countries in Europe stopped sending flights to the USA. In her dreams, her parents were doing everything they could to get her back, in reality, she knew they gave less of a shit.

There was a knock at the second door of her room. “Is that my dinner?”

Her personal bellhop, Rich, had been the champion before her. But when she managed to overpower him, she made sure he wasn’t thrown out to the streets. So, she ordered that he was her bellhop. He seemed thankful to not be eating out of trash cans. “It is. It’s an order of shit with a side of fuck you.”

“So the usual?” 

He placed a tray of bread, mashed potatoes, and a slab of questionable meat on her table, “Of course.” He grabbed the drink that came with it, “Hey at least it’s not rat urine this time. They allowed me to bring you a can of red bull.”

“And here I thought it’d be something good.” 

Rich walked over and sat down next to her, “How was today?”

“Idiot adult thought he could beat me- and then a prisoner execution. Not too much. Did you get the lineup for tomorrow?”

Rich dug a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket, he handed it to her, “You won’t like it.”

She read over it before standing up and throw the paper against the wall. Unsatisfied, she grabbed the can of red bull and threw it against the wall, “They are letting a fucking teenager fight me!? And a group of ten-year-olds! What the- Ugh! Jebi ovo mjesto!” 

Rich stood up, “Do you want-”

“Rich, be a dear and leave me alone!”

Rich knew that he had to leave her alone. There was a reason she was the Champion.

\---------------------

Cold. The fucking cell was so fucking cold. God, he didn’t even know what warmth felt like anymore. They fucking took it away from him. They took everything away from everyone. 

Everything below the small of his back constantly hurt. It hurt so much and it happened day in and day out. It hurt so much. He wanted so badly to slam just off himself and let them find his bleeding body on the floor the next morning. They would just toss his body as they did with every person who died in these cells. 

But he couldn’t bear himself to do it. He had something- someone out there he just had to stay alive for. He saved him once, and he was doing it again. 

Evan Hansen was the only thing keeping Connor from ending it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to my friend for proof-reading. YOU ARE THE BEST!  
My tumblr is alpha-aurigae2
> 
> Also, my friend is making me say: I'm sorry that I'm being mean to Connor. Also, I'm sorry that I killed Heidi.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Blood, fighting, tasers, Jake mentions the Saw movies
> 
> For the full experience, when Jeremy gets thrown in the dirt, put on Piers' battle theme from Pokemon Sword and Sheild if you wish for background music.

“Zip-Bit, you have been found guilty of treason. The punishment is exile. Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Logan asked. He was standing up on a podium, looking down at the crowd of people

Riley, with tissues stuffed in both his nostrils and many open wounds, looked up at the man, “‘Ows about ya go fuck yerself ya royal cunt?” The people holding back his arms dug their nails into his skin. 

Logan rolled his eyes, and pulled his lips back into a scowl, “So immature.”

“Says a cunt who acts like a king,” Riley smirked through the pain as one of his restrainers twisted his arm for five seconds.

“Susan, please get rid of him.” Logan waved his hand and stomped away from his podium.

“Right away, Sir.” She pointed her finger and his two restrainers yanked him up by his arms. He let it happen, he didn’t care for the group anymore. He hung his head, not letting the others around him see his face as he was pushed along. They spewed out slurs and insults like candy, threw rocks as he passed. He didn’t care.

He was finally shoved onto the pavement. He managed to catch himself and flipped over so he was looking up the three. Susan, Carter, and Phillip. He felt his stomach drop at the sight of Phillip scowling at him. Phillip was one of his old friends.

Susan pointed her finger at him, “You had promise. We took you in for a reason and now you’ve gone and wasted it. And on what? A couple of prisoners?”

Riley bit into his lip. He didn’t want to say anything. 

Phillip walked up to him and pushed him back to the ground. Riley tried to push himself back up but was stopped by Phillip’s hand on his chest. Phillip was startling him, using his weight to keep Riley from moving his legs. Phillip was by no means a big person, Riley was just slightly underweight. Phillip used his free hand to slip something into Riley’s jacket pocket. Phillip hissed through clenched teeth, “Just pretend I’m strangling you.” Riley gave a small nod. 

Phillip put his hands around Riley’s neck, pushing the pads of his fingers into the side of his neck. He thrashed his legs and put his hands on his shoulders. Carter whooped in the back, he thought that Phillip was strangling me. Just as a show of strength. But he could see Phillip’s eyes. Wet and red. He was biting into his lower lip. Riley moved his hand to his face, pretending to push his head away. He rubbed his thumb across his cheek. He gave a small smile, just a flash of one before letting go. While Riley gasped dramatically on the ground, Phillip got off and walked back to Carter and Susan.

“Shows you right, filthy country boy,” Susan spat, scowling down at Riley, who had set himself up and was pretending to pant.

“Fuck you too.”

Susan turned her nose up and huffed away, Phillip and Carter following. Phillip gave one glance back before sliding back into the bushes.

Riley rubbed the right side of his neck with the heel of his hand. He reached into his pocket to see what Phillip slipped him.

A hunting knife, a nice one too. They took his other knives before putting him on trial, but now, he had one. If he needed to gut a squirrel, he could.

Riley sat up in the middle of the road. He didn’t want to move, as if moving would mean that everything that just happened was real and not just a bad dream. Tugging his jacket tighter around his form, he looked up at the stars. 

Michael liked the stars.

Michael was the only person alive who ever treated him like a person. His sister was the only other one. His parents kinda treated him like a human, but they mostly tried to push what they wanted onto him. He could see the hope that everything would get better because of Michael. The late nights when he would sneak up the hill to find Michael’s hiding spot and listen to Michael ramble about whatever was on his mind.

Michael was the reason he knew he was gay. Sure, he dated Phillip for a month two years ago, but he never really loved Phillip. He just got into the relationship because Phillip was nice and he was 16 at the time and blissfully unaware of the feeling of love and intimacy. He didn’t really know what romantic feelings were. He hadn’t had many friends, and most were girls for some unknown reason. He never had a crush on anyone. But then Michael... 

Riley fell and he fell hard. He was deliriously happy around Michael, and he couldn’t help but feel an ache in his chest when he saw Michael and Jeremy holding hands. It wasn’t jealousy, it was just the feeling of unrequited love. But he was okay with his feelings not being returned, he just cared that Michael was happy. 

He knew he had to find them. Maybe by the time he found them, he could see Michael as just a friend. Not the focus of his attraction. He doubted it. Moving on was one thing he was extremely bad at. He could never move past anything that happened to him. Whether it be a friend moving away or the untimely death of-

Riley sighed. He didn’t want to think about her. Now was not the time to wallow in his stagnant sorrow. He got back up, his legs shaking under his weight. He stared down the road, down the way they left.

Taking one last glance at the group who took him in, the group that gave him everything he needed physically, but nothing emotionally, before turning away and running down the road.

\---------------------

It was 1:00 in the morning when Jake finally pulled over and let them sleep. Brooke and Chloe went to sleep earlier, but Jeremy couldn’t sleep and neither could Michael. He kept turning the goggles in his hands. Jeremy couldn’t tell what he was thinking about, but whatever it was, it looked like it was torturing him. Jake looked back at them, “You two… alright?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy couldn’t manage to say more. The air felt heavy and drowning in the car. Like a weighted blanket was draped over them.

Jake gave them a somber expression before turning back around. He opened the car door and stepped out, leaving the door open behind him.

Michael sighed and nestled closer, stashing the goggles into the compartment in the door. Jeremy wrapped his arm around Michael and rested his head in Michael’s hair. Michael sighed, “You know, we should talk about the fact that you ran from the state.”

Jeremy flinched, “You had to bring that up?” He shifted away from Michael and propped his elbows on his thighs and letting his hands fall between his legs, “It was a split-second decision. I didn’t know where anyone was and needed to get out of-”

Michael put his hand on Jeremy’s mouth, “I’m not mad.” Jeremy turned his head and raised an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I was when I couldn’t find you two years ago, especially after Connor suddenly disappeared.” He moved his hand to Jeremy’s shoulder, “But I understand why you did it. I mean, I did it too. Run away when I was needed, that is.” He lowered his hand, “I was with Connor and when those people showed up, Connor told me to run and I stupidly listened to him. When I went back to check if he was still there, all I could find of him was shredded parts of his jacket. I freaked out and hotwired a car and booked it.”

“Yikes.” Almost everyone knew that Connor acted before he thought and he was extremely bad at realizing he was biting off more than he could chew. Jeremy, Evan, Connor, and Chloe once went to an amusement park and to show off to Evan, he tried riding the most twisted rollercoaster. After Connor got off, he promptly found the nearest trash can and threw up. Connor and Evan left after that and Jeremy and Chloe ended up winning a giant tiger plushie at one of the games.

“Yeah. Dude thought he could go up against armed guards with pistols.”

“That’s our Connor.”

“Evan has weird taste in men.”

“Yeah.”

The car went silent again. Jeremy leaned his head against Michael’s chest and closed his eyes. Michael wrapped his arms around Jeremy.

Jake slipped back into the car, closing the door behind him. He leaned his head back on the headrest.

“Do you think Riley will be ok?” Michael whispered.

Jeremy smiled, “Probably. He seems really tough. He should be able to keep himself going.”

“He’s not the best with his emotions. Yeah, he can hunt like a boss, but he is a wreck emotionally,” Michael took a shaky breath, “without his group or me as his support network, I’m not sure how he’ll fare.”

Jeremy furrowed his brow. His only impression of Riley was tough and resilient. He stood in front of a crowd of people planning on killing him and he stood there with a smirk on his face. Barely showed any emotion to the group other than pride, content, and anger. But Michael knew him for who knows how long. Maybe Michael was able to break through whatever barriers Riley had put up.

“Do you know how he got his nickname? Cuz it’s… really weird.”

“Well, you know that his last name is Zipperman. I didn’t know that before now, but that explains the first part. He told me the second part was a reference to The Outsiders? Something about being obsessed with one of the characters in seventh grade?”

Jeremy had to think for a moment. Seventh grade was a long time ago. “Two-Bit!”

“Oh, yeah! I forgot about him.”

They heard a hiss from the front seat. Turning their heads, they saw Jake turned around in his seat, scowling right at them, “If you’d please be quiet, some of us are trying to sleep.”

Jeremy pouted and stuck his tongue out at Jake. Jake responded by glaring only at Jeremy. Jeremy raised his eyebrows, “Fine. We’ll go to bed now. How’s that Princess Jake.”

Michael snorted and added, “And do you want us to get you a pillow?”

“Or a cup of tea that’s heated to exactly 105 degrees Fahrenheit?”

They could both see Jake’s cheeks turn slightly pink. His glare faltered as he glanced away from the two, “Shut the fuck up.” He turned back around and leaned forward on the steering wheel and crossed his arms under his head.

Jeremy and Michael chuckled at each other. Jeremy couldn’t get the image of Jake in Ariel’s pink dress out of his mind. When their laughter died down, Jeremy resumed smooshing his head into Michael’s chest. Michael tightened his grip on Jeremy for a fraction of a second, then moved his right hand up and down Jeremy’s back. Michael was really warm, like a furnace heat lamp. After years and years of sleeping alone, it felt really nice to hold someone. Hold Michael. Michael sighed happily and mumbled something incoherent. If Jeremy was given one wish, he would wish every moment was as calm and peaceful and loving as this one.

Then the horn went off.

“Jake!” They both shouted.

“I’m sorry!”

“What the fuck Jake?” Jeremy thought he heard Chloe mumble.

“I said I’m sorry!”

\---------------------

The early morning sun was blinding. Way too bright. Like shining the sun rays through a magnifying glass bright. It hurt his head and he hadn’t even opened his eyes. Burying his head deeper into Michael’s chest he whined pathetically. 

“What is it, Jeremy?” Michael said. His voice was groggy and deep. Michael shifted and sat up, with Jeremy’s head in his lap. Jeremy whined again and stuffed his face in Michael’s thigh.

“Make the sun go away,” Jeremy whined.

Michael laughed and ran his hand through Jeremy’s hair, “I would if I could.”

Jeremy groaned, “Then figure out how. It’s too early for the morning.”

“You’re not making any sense, baby,” Michael said. He ruffled Jeremy’s hair, making it even messier than it was already.

Jeremy just let himself blush, “I am making sense. And how dare you give me a pet name first.”

Michael sighed, “Is this what you’re like when you don’t have coffee?”

“This is who I am Michael.” 

Michael started laughing. It was quiet, not enough to wake anyone up, but loud enough for Jeremy to hear. It was a heavenly sound. So upbeat and lofty. He could remember the times before everything went wrong. When they were just playing games in Michael’s basement, not caring about anything but themselves. When they didn’t have to worry about where they would get their food from. 

Jeremy finally opened his eyes and looked up at Michael. His hair was tousled from having to sleep in a car. His eyes looked tired, dark circles underneath, constantly half-lidded and drowsy. He looked amazing. “Michael you look really hot-”

“Ooookaaayyy Jeremy.”

“Ah, that’s hot. That’s real hot.” 

“Dude, please there are other people in the car-”

“But Michaellllll.”

“Jeremy please.”

“ssssssSSHUT UP!” Chloe yelled, waking everyone else up in the process. Brooke groaned and waved her hand towards Chloe. She was mumbling something along the lines of ‘Chloe dear please shut up as well’. Chloe put her hand out and let Brooke grab it. Jeremy turned in time to see Brooke give a drowsy but deliriously happy smile.

Jake slapped his hands on the steering wheel, “Whelp. Now that Chloe woke everybody up, we should probably get going. Michael, I’m making you drive.” Chloe flipped him off with her free hand. 

“Shouldn’t we at least eat first?” Jeremy mumbled. He knew that if he was going to function normally, he needed some kind of food.

“We can eat while we drive. Michael, climb over the center console and take my seat dammit.”

“I’m not moving, Jake,” Jeremy said.

“I don’t care. Sleep in my lap for all I care, Michael take the front seat.”

Brooke’s smile disappeared and she let go of Chloe’s hand. She put her hand through the bottom of the headrest and slapped Jake’s neck, “Stop talking so loud.”

Jake whipped around to look at Brooke. He looked absolutely offended. The image of Jake in Ariel’s dress popped back into Jeremy’s mind.

“Awww poor Princess Jake. Did she hurt her neck with her short nails or…?” Jeremy smirked as best he could in his hazy state.

Jake turned his attention to Jeremy, “I will wring your neck, Heere-”

“Whoa! Okay, Jake, I’ll drive. Just don’t hurt my boyfriend,” Michael said.

Jake smiled and jumped out of the car. Michael had to push a very pathetic and clingy Jeremy off of him to clamber over the center console. When Jake sat next to Jeremy, he expected Jeremy to continue with his patheticness. Instead, Jeremy sat up and glared daggers into the side of Jake’s head. Brooke actually chuckled at the sight of Jake actually looking somewhat scared of Jeremy, of all people. Then again, Jake was scared of Evan ‘Connor what the hell is this whip for’ Hansen, so maybe he was just a huge wimp.

\---------------------

An hour into the drive, Jeremy had finally stopped being pathetic after eating some of their stash of granola bars. Chloe had also raided the food basket and ate some of the canned fruit that Jeremy scavenged. Everyone else just ate either one granola bar or a handful of cereal. 

Jeremy was staring at Michael. One, because he was gorgeous, and two because he was actually singing. Michael never sang in the time that Jeremy knew him. His voice was untrained and he was singing very quietly, but Jeremy could hear it. To him, it was a very nice and calming sound. Others would despise it, but Jeremy didn’t care for those imaginary people.

Jake leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Dude, I can hear your homosexuality.” 

Jeremy sat up and glared at Jake, “Says you.” 

“I’m pan, thank you very much,” Jake said in an exaggerated voice. 

“Well excuuuuuse me, princess.”

Jake snorted and slapped his hand over his mouth. Jeremy smiled and looked outside the windshield. “Do you think we’ll be able to find everyone? You know, all our friends.”

Jake’s smile fell. He hung his head he started fidgeting with his pant leg. “A part of me wants to hope we can. That they’re all alive and we can find all of them. But another part is telling me that we can’t find everyone. That we’ll never see some people again.”

Jeremy’s smile also fell and cast his eyes down. He always thought that back when he was house hopping. Sure, he knew some of his friends would survive, Jake and Rich seemed the most likely to live through an apocalypse. But Evan? He couldn’t believe Evan stayed alive as long as he did. He knew Zoe had a good chance of surviving, Connor could gut a rabbit with a rock, and Jenna could bench press a dolphin. Jared had zero chance of surviving yet whoop-dee-fucking-doo, he’s somehow still alive. Good job Jared, go eat a bath bomb, you funky little man.

“Well, at least I found you four idiots,” Jake laughed.

“At least its something.”

\---------------------

An old attraction sign was the first thing Jeremy noticed when Michael suddenly stopped the car. When Jake complained that Michael stopped, Michael pointed out the sign and that managed to shut Jake up. 

After a good fifteen minutes of discussion, they decided to move forward and hope for the best. 

As they drove, Brooke managed to spot some rickety wooden houses built in the rubble of an old neighborhood. Campfires were set in what used to be a street. The people they could see had torn up or slightly burnt clothes. 

As they moved down the road, the houses still stood and the people looked better. Well-fed, good clothes, little to no blood on anything.

Oh yeah, the blood.

Blood was almost everywhere. 

The street was littered with trash and knives and bullet casings. Blood was stained into the black tar of the road, most of it did not look fresh. They once had stopped to see what blocking their tire only to find a bucket full of gasoline and blood with a detached arm sticking out. Chloe threw up at that sight and Jake kicked it away, which just made it worse. Michael made the executive decision that that was enough playing with blood and forced everyone back into the car. 

Jeremy was the one to spot a pretty large house. That wasn’t what caught his eye. It was the pit surrounded by various chairs in the back yard. It was relatively deep and had a fence wrapped around the rim of it, putting a barrier between the chairs and the pit. The only thing anyone could think it was used for was some sort of cult practice. 

“Michael, I would appreciate it if you hurried up so we could get out of whatever this is,” Chloe spat. Jeremy nodded, full-heartedly agreeing. It was ghastly here and he had had enough blood and weird religious pit for one day. 

Michael was about to say something but was interrupted by someone rear-ending them. It wasn’t too bad damage wise, no one was hurt but the car. It was only when another car, a large truck, pulled up right in front of them that Jeremy started feeling uneasy. It got worse when four people got out of the car with various weapons. They shouted, demanding everyone out. One of them was pointing a gun straight at Michael. 

As soon as they got out, they were each restrained by people behind them tying zip ties around each of their wrists. They were dragged into the trunk of the truck and driven off of the interstate to the pit house. Each was dragged into separate rooms of the house, cut off the zip ties, then locked them in from the outside. So it was a jailhouse. Great.

Jeremy’s room had a mattress and a bucket. The rest of the room was bare. They had raided their car and taken the food and the weapons they had, along with Michael’s phone. He had nothing that could be used as a lock pick or a weapon with him, so he was stuck. 

The night was cold. They apparently didn’t have air conditioning and the bed didn’t have blankets on it. So Jeremy just curled up into a ball and hoped he didn’t freeze. 

He only managed to get around three hours of sleep before two people burst through the door and dragged him out of his room and to the basement of the house. When the two people reached the bottom of the stairs, they threw him to the ground before stomping off back up the stairs.

“Well, Jeremy hasn’t died yet,” Jake said. Jeremy’s head shot up and saw that the other four were also down there. Michael had already taken a knee next to Jeremy and was helping him into a sitting position. Jeremy smiled at Michael, who returned it with the faintest hint of a blush on his cheeks.

The room was dark, the only light source was from a glass door in the back. The sides were cluttered with trash and ripped furniture. It made Jeremy feel uneasy in the way it felt like it was frozen in time, with nothing in the room moving, excluding the living people in the room. The air was stagnant as all hell and he could smell blood in the air.

“How are you feeling dude?” Michael asked. His hand was clasped to Jeremy’s forearm as if Jeremy would fall over like a doll without it.

“I’ve felt better,” He mumbled back.

“On a scale from scraped knees to Saw movie victim, what is your pain at?” Jake asked. Where he got that scale, Jeremy had no idea, but it was the best pain scale he’d heard in his life.

“Let’s go with… that time Connor poked Jared with a heated up piece of copper on ‘accident.’” That was equivalent to a three on a 1-10 scale.

“Oof.”

“Yeah.”

Jeremy could hear Chloe rolling her eyes at them.

A dude in a ripped band t-shirt came down the stairs. Jeremy shot to his feet with Michael following right behind him. He looked over the five of them. His eyes stopped on Jeremy and with that look, Jeremy’s stomach dropped. He moved over to the group and wrangled Jeremy out of rightfully pissed off Michael’s hold. Jeremy himself was struggling as well trying to get the guy off him. Jake, Chloe, and Brooke had started trying to help only to be shoved away by the man. 

Jeremy was dragged to the door. The dude took a key from his jean pockets and unlocked the door. Jeremy was again thrown to the ground, this time, however, he got a face full of dust. He could hear people screaming and cheering around him. Sitting up, he realized he was in the pit he noticed the day before. This time though, the rim was filled with people looking down at him. 

Just over the crowd, he heard what he thought was an airhorn. The crowd quieted down and turned to the supposed source of the sound. 

“Lovely day we have here! Perfect for an execution by our champion, wouldn’t you say?” A male voice shouted over the crowd, who responded with yet more cheering. Jeremy was starting to get a headache from all the noise. As the crowd once again went silent, the speaker came back, “Just as I thought! Now please give a cheer to our amazing champion: Zach Petrović!” With that, the crowd exploded, cheering even louder than before.

Looking away from the crowd and just across from him, he saw- well he saw a girl. With a name like Zach, he was expecting a boy, but no. It was a girl. She looked tired, her posture ever so slightly droopy, she was rubbing the back of her neck and looking up anxiously at the crowd. It was as if she thought these people would shoot her head at a moment's notice. Her blonde hair looked to have dust all throughout, with dried blood crusted onto her tips. Her clothes, a simple blue jacket with a t-shirt and khakis, was also given the same treatment as her hair. She was standing in front of a door identical to the one behind him.

Jeremy scrambled to his feet, not sure what to do about the girl. Looking back at the door, he could see his friends peering through the door. He was able to catch Michael’s eyes for a second, right when the man shouted back over the crowd with a resounding: “BEGIN!”

Turning back the girl, he could see that she was bending more into her knees. She looked ready to fight. Jeremy stood there, unsure of how to proceed. He locked her eyes with his. She was giving a half-hearted glare through her lashes.

She apparently had enough of Jeremy standing around like an idiot, as she started moving forward. Slowly, planting each foot with a purpose. She was a snake ready to strike. 

When she was a good five feet away, Jeremy took a step backward, and she suddenly rushed forward with his step. She grabbed his arm just as his foot hit the ground. He jerked it back, but immediately realized his mistake as she kept her grip and manged to step forward so she didn’t fall forward.

She took her opportunity and pulled him forward, and with his awful balance, caused him to lean forward on one foot. As he fell forward, she sidestepped, planting herself by his side. She rose her foot and pulled his leg out from under him. She grabbed the back of his shirt before he completely fell forward. At first, Jeremy thought she was just being nice, but that was disproven quickly as she threw him into the center of the arena-pit. 

He couldn’t understand it. He was getting beaten up by a girl with a dudes name who was only slightly taller than Evan, and yet she managed to throw him around. Sprawled on his front, he could feel her grind her knee into his back and place a hand on his neck. She put barely any pressure on his neck, however. He could feel her fingers trembling against his neck.

The crowd grew louder than ever, then abruptly went quiet. Turning his head up, he could see the girl put her hand up, fingers splayed. He could hear her raspy breathing just above him and her leg perched on his back started trembling along with her fingers. He could dark bags under her eyes and the beginnings of a bruise on her right cheek that moved to the side of her eye. He could just see the hints of her hazel eyes through the shadows that lined her face. 

She lifted her head to the crowd, keeping her gaze steady on one point. “What has he done?” She yelled. She had an accent, one that Jeremy couldn’t place. It wasn’t exactly subtle. She was putting a lot of emphasis on her ‘h’s’.

The crowd mumbled, sounding annoyed. One person even shouted, “Just kill him already!” Which Jeremy was not fond of in the slightest. 

The same announcer guy from the beginning of this fight started talking again, “He is a trespasser, Zach. The punishment for such a crime is death.”

She scowled, “How was he trespassing? What had he done to cause this violence against him?” She stumbled over the last few words, especially over the word ‘violence’.

“He was driving through. Nothing more. It still counts as trespassing.”

She took her hand off his neck. “Oh, za ljubav-” She mumbled before standing up fully. Jeremy rolled on to his back and continued to look up at her. “He has done nothing to harm us! He drove on a road and his punishment is death?” She was digging her nails into her palm. 

“Zach! It is your duty to carry out our demands, you do not question them!”

Zach took a step away from Jeremy, closer to her door, “I will no longer kill innocent people for your sick entertainment!”

The crowd was booing and the ones closest to her started spitting or throwing beer at her. She seemed unphased, continuing to look up at the one specific spot. 

Looking up, he could see a dude dressed in fashionable clothing force his way through the crowd and to the fence. He unhooked a latch and swung up part of the fence that was made into a makeshift gate. He fished what looked to be a small black box from his pocket. Zach recoiled instantly.

That wasn’t just a black box, Jeremy soon realized when metal barbs hooked through Zach’s jacket and she collapsed on her hands and knees. Choked out sobs shook through her. The crowd kept flinging insults at her as she was tased for over five seconds. As soon as the electricity stopped, she collapsed onto her side, curling her legs up into a fetal position. She pulled the metal barbs out of her sleeve and tossed them to the side of the arena. 

Jeremy was suddenly pulled up by his shoulders and was being dragged backward, his heels digging into the dirt. The door opposite of him swung open and-

That’s Rich. Even though the red streak in his hair was all but gone and he was wearing what looked like a low budget butler outfit, his shortness, and the burn scars running up to his face were a dead give away. He was bending down next to Zach and was trying to coax her up off the ground when he glanced up and noticed Jeremy. He quickly looked away, tending the girl curled in on herself in front of him. But now he knew that at least Jeremy was at this place. 

Being thrown back into what turned out to be a cell, the person carrying him, the same man as before, locked the door behind him and went back up the stairs. Jeremy pushed himself onto his knees and looked up at Jake, who had noticed Rich and was staring through the glass at him with a hand over his mouth.

Looking back at Rich, he had gotten Zach to stand using his shoulder for support. He looked back at the glass and locked his eyes immediately with Jake’s. A smile flashed on his face before it was replaced by one of pure horror. He turned his head to Zach and the two had a quick conversation, with Rich speaking and Zach weakly nodding her head at what he said. 

After one more glance at the group, he turned around and dragged Zach back through the other door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my girlfriend for proofreading, editing, and helping me with this fic and chapter.
> 
> My tumblr is alpha-aurigae2


End file.
